Why is "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence rather than Songs of Experience?

Question

*The Chimney Sweeper* from *Songs of Innocence* opens like this:> When my mother died I was very young,And my father sold me while yet my tongueCould scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.I must admit that I'm very new to William Blake's material, so I hope I'm not missing something obvious, but I'm slightly baffled as to why this is a "Song of Innocence" rather than a "Song of Experience." Or is the *loss* of innocence the point of the poem? Is Blake being ironic in categorizing it as a Song of Innocence?

Answer 1

The point seems to emerge that even through the harrowing experience innocence still triumphs and remains.

Perhaps that's why it finds a home in Songs of Experience.